Rampage V Extreme U3.1 - Q Code "53" on BIOS versions 3xxx+

I recently purchased an ASUS Rampage V Extreme U3.1 motherboard second-hand on eBay from a Canadian seller. Said motherboard was pulled from a working ORIGIN PC build. It was shipped to me on BIOS 1601. I installed the motherboard into my system and booted up successfully. I'm powering it with a Haswell-E 5960X. On the initial boot, I noted that the BIOS splash screen displayed "ORIGIN" and not "Republic of Gamers". I proceeded to install Windows 10 (1809) and setup my necessary drivers.

Once that completed, I booted back into my BIOS to set the XMP profile for my RAM. I have a Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 (CMK32GX4M4C3000C15R) kit which is NOT on the approved RAM listing for the motherboard. I did not touch any of the other values, only setting my XMP profile. This enabled a 125 BLCK overclock. I left all of my timings at AUTO and attempted to pass POST. I got stuck on q code 'bF". Rebooted and saw that overclocking failed. I decided to update the BIOS then, in the hopes that it would improve RAM compatibility. I went straight for BIOS version 3701 (latest BIOS). I flashed it in the BIOS Flashback on the rear I/O with the ROG Connect button. It flashed successfully but when I booted up I got stuck at q code "53" (memory initialization). I attempted single module RAM installations, populating one stick at a time in the A1, then B1, C1 and D1 RAM slots. Tried other modules from the kit in all of the slots. Inspected module contacts. Cleaned module contacts. Blew compressed air into the motherboard's RAM slots. Cleared CMOS. Removed CMOS battery. I could not get past q code "53" for the life of me.

I then used the BIOS Flashback to revert to version 1601. PC passed POST without issue and got straight into Windows on optimized defaults. I started flashing up the line from 1602 to 2001 without any errors during POST. Once I attempted any BIOS that was version 3xxx, I would get stuck at q code "53". I called ASUS technical support. They just referred me to BIOS 3701 and how to use EZ Flash in the BIOS environment to update BIOS. This wasn't very helpful sadly, as I had tried this myself, multiple times.

Are there other users here with Haswell-E processors running with this Rampage V Extreme U3.1 motherboard on BIOS versions 3xxx+? I'm running out of ideas to troubleshoot. I'm thinking about trying some other RAM, but I don't have any spare DDR4 modules currently. Another oddity to note: when I look at SPD tables in Windows with various hardware monitoring sofware (HWiNFO64, CPU-Z, Aida64) my SPD information is blank. I can see it in the BIOS though.

Sorry for the long post - but any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

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I'm afraid this is not an uncommon story...

For Haswell E I would recommend staying on 2xxx series BIOS for the RAM compatibility. Vengeance being "value" RAM was never the best choice on that platform. The CPU memory controller being the limiting factor most often...coupled with the quality of the RAM.

I don't see your RAM on my copy of the latest QVL for that motherboard (see attached). Of course that doesn't mean it wouldn't post at least at the base JEDEC speed of 2133 MT/s, but it might explain some of the unexpected behavior. I am not sure when you have XMP enabled vs. disabled in your descriptions. You say that you can boot with earlier BIOS versions < 3701 when XMP is not enabled, is that right? But then it won't boot on BIOS 3701 with XMP still disabled? Booting on earlier BIOS but not with later BIOS, all with XMP disabled, is weird.

On the other hand, if you HAVE been using XMP and having these problems, try disabling XMP and see if it posts using BIOS 3701, and also if you can see your SPD info in CPU-z. If all is good, then maybe you have a base to start from and you can try to manually tweak memory timings and voltages. I am ignorant on how to do that, maybe Arne and others can help you.

I am using the same motherboard, with an i7-5930K and latest BIOS vers 3701. I have no issues at all with 64GB all 8 slots, Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK64GX4M8A2400C14, and no XMP (which means it is running at 2133 MT/s). It seems motherboards/cpus are finicky when you try to push the memory speeds past what they can handle, and sometimes there is a tradeoff between speed and amount of RAM. I chose the full amount of 64GB over speed, for reasons unknown to even me.

For Haswell E I would recommend staying on 2xxx series BIOS for the RAM compatibility. Vengeance being "value" RAM was never the best choice on that platform. The CPU memory controller being the limiting factor most often...coupled with the quality of the RAM.

You may need to tune DRAM voltage a little higher as well as VCCSA

It's no Samsung B die, that's for sure. And you are right about the voltage. I had to run RAM voltages at 1.4v to get 2800MHz to pass stress testing. I'll try some other RAM and see what gives. Thanks for the advice.

I don't see your RAM on my copy of the latest QVL for that motherboard (see attached). Of course that doesn't mean it wouldn't post at least at the base JEDEC speed of 2133 MT/s, but it might explain some of the unexpected behavior. I am not sure when you have XMP enabled vs. disabled in your descriptions. You say that you can boot with earlier BIOS versions < 3701 when XMP is not enabled, is that right? But then it won't boot on BIOS 3701 with XMP still disabled? Booting on earlier BIOS but not with later BIOS, all with XMP disabled, is weird.

On the other hand, if you HAVE been using XMP and having these problems, try disabling XMP and see if it posts using BIOS 3701, and also if you can see your SPD info in CPU-z. If all is good, then maybe you have a base to start from and you can try to manually tweak memory timings and voltages. I am ignorant on how to do that, maybe Arne and others can help you.

I am using the same motherboard, with an i7-5930K and latest BIOS vers 3701. I have no issues at all with 64GB all 8 slots, Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK64GX4M8A2400C14, and no XMP (which means it is running at 2133 MT/s). It seems motherboards/cpus are finicky when you try to push the memory speeds past what they can handle, and sometimes there is a tradeoff between speed and amount of RAM. I chose the full amount of 64GB over speed, for reasons unknown to even me.

Yeah, I cannot even POST with 1, 2, 3 or all 4 RAM modules installed on any BIOS greater than 2001, with no XMP. Maybe I have a sub-par kit? I know that as you increase RAM density things can get squirrely - but even with one 8GB stick it's no dice. Good to know that you're able to POST with a Haswell-E CPU and BIOS 3701. I'm going to look into getting a higher end RAM kit for sure. For what's it's worth it's Hynix die. Thanks for your reply.

That fact that your kit won't post with latest BIOS even with one stick might be telling you that the memory is somehow not compatible with that motherboard. I have no advice for alternate DDR4 other than to consult the QVL list, but that list is now over 5 years past when ASUS was testing memory kits on that board. Nonetheless many of those kits are probably still available. The memory I am using is still available at Newegg. There might be newer memory kits available with the same exact timings as found on the QVL, that might work fine.

All these discussions assumes the CPU is working ok, it's memory controller is ok. Could there be a slight problem there?

That fact that your kit won't post with latest BIOS even with one stick might be telling you that the memory is somehow not compatible with that motherboard. I have no advice for alternate DDR4 other than to consult the QVL list, but that list is now over 5 years past when ASUS was testing memory kits on that board. Nonetheless many of those kits are probably still available. The memory I am using is still available at Newegg. There might be newer memory kits available with the same exact timings as found on the QVL, that might work fine.

All these discussions assumes the CPU is working ok, it's memory controller is ok. Could there be a slight problem there?

An ASUS rep got back to me via phone today and pretty much said the same thing. They had a response back from their engineers who sited the QVL list and how my kit wasn't on said list.

My 5960x is a "J" Batch and it's a great overclocker thankfully. I cool it with a Corsair H115i. It's running 4.5GHz at 1.215v (adaptive) with the uncore at 4.2Ghz at 1.095v (manual). I doubt it's an issue with the IMC, but one never knows! Thanks again for your responses and ideas. I really appreciate it!

Have you tried setting the RAM up manually...not using XMP profiles. And have you tried with 100BCLK instead of 125 strap?...might be worth a shot...

Just enter primary timings and frequency and set DRAM voltage (1.35...1.4v) and VCCSA (try 1.1v 1.2v)

Thanks for the tip - I'll go comb through Newegg and see what's out there.

I'm a manual tuner for sure! I tend to shy away from XMP profiles because I don't want to lose performance from loose timings - not that I have a legendary RAM kit, but I've done ok with it on previous boards. I did try all the way up to 1.45v on the DRAM voltage and I played with VCCSA as well. Did both 100 BLCK and 125 BLCK. I got into the OS once on 3000MHz (BIOS 2001-125BLCK) but the system hung after about 2 minutes. Afterwards I wasn't able to repeat it, despite doing a lot of memory training and tweaking secondary and tertiary timings. I was able to get to 2800MHz on my XMP primary timings and 1.4v DRAM voltage. Alas it wasn't stable in games, but passed 4 hours of Aida 64 stress testing (FPU stress testing was disabled).

Update - 4/3/19

Well guys, a HUGE thank you, it was the RAM kit afterall. I bit the bullet and shelled out some cash for quality RAM. Got the G.Skill 32GB DDR4 TridentZ RGB 3600Mhz PC4-28800 CL16 1.35V Quad Channel Kit (4x8GB) from Amazon. Yes, I know I can't run it at 3600Mhz on this platform but when I upgrade I want faster RAM so here's to the future.

Anyhow I am now running stable on BIOS 3701 with all of my SPD tables showing in Windows. The XMP setting shows 3200Mhz at 100 BLCK. Loaded up first try with XMP enabled. Got stable primary timings of 13-13-13-32 at 1.36v and I am very happy. Long live Samsung B die!